AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The all-star break didn’t exactly come at the best time for the Washington Wizards, who entered the Palace of Auburn Hills as the hottest team in the NBA not called the Miami Heat. They had won four in a row against four teams in playoff contention and weren’t ready to hit the pause button on their best run of the season. But they also weren’t viewing their game against the Detroit Pistons as an early vacation.
“It’s lovely, now,” Wizards center Emeka Okafor said before the game. “It would be awesome going in with five games and having that momentum when we come back.”
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But since they were unable to contain the smallest player on the court, the Wizards didn’t get to experience awesome. Pistons backup point guard Will Bynum came off the bench to score 20 points and hand out eight assists during a dominant fourth-quarter performance that allowed his team to win, 96-85.
Okafor led the Wizards with 20 points and nine rebounds but didn’t get the opportunity to slow down the speedy, diminutive Bynum as Coach Randy Wittman kept him on the bench for the entire final period, when the Wizards were outscored 31-17.
John Wall had 16 points and eight assists, providing two highlights when he whirled the ball around his waist for assists to Okafor and Trevor Ariza. Nene, Ariza and Bradley Beal had 10 points apiece but Beal didn’t score in the second half, missing all six of his field goal attempts.
The Wizards (15-36) are now 0-3 against the Pistons this season but they looked nothing like the team that visited the Pistons on Dec. 22, got slaughtered 100-68 points and forced Coach Randy Wittman to apologize to fans and owner Ted Leonsis for the performance. On that night, the Wizards didn’t have Wall, Nene, Beal, Ariza, Trevor Booker and A.J. Price and needed to score five points in the final 90 seconds to avoid setting a new franchise record for fewest points in a game.
All five of those players were back for the rematch and Wall has helped lead the team through an inspired stretch that has seen them win 11 of their past 18 games. The Wizards were also coming off their first road victory against an Eastern Conference opponent in 15 tries. They are now 1-15 on the road within the conference.
The Wizards led 70-65 after Ariza made two free throws to start the fourth quarter, but the Pistons responded with an 11-0 run sparked by Bynum. Bynum made a driving layup, then found Charlie Villanueva for a three-pointer. Reserve Chris Singleton fouled Villanueva on the shot and he converted the rare four-point play. Bynum made another floater and threw a lob to backup Viacheslav Kravtsov, who dunked to give the Pistons a 76-70 lead.
Nene made a hook, then Trevor Ariza had back-to-back layups to quickly tie the score, but Bynum then led another push of 11 unanswered points to put the Wizards away. Singleton fouled him on a long jumper, then he made a pull-up jumper, drove around Wall for layup and found newly-acquired point guard Jose Calderon in the corner for a three-pointer.
Wittman called a timeout to calm down his team, but the Pistons barrage continued. Kyle Singler made two free throws, then Wall finally answered with two free throws, only to have Bynum hit Villanueva at the top of the key for another three-pointer.
Throughout both runs, Okafor found himself sitting on the sideline, with Wittman deciding not to insert him.
Calderon connected on six three-pointers and led all scorers with 24 points and Villanueva had 11 points off the bench.
Okafor dueled with Pistons center and former Georgetown star Greg Monroe in the first quarter. Okafor had 10 points and three rebounds and Monroe had 11 points and eight rebounds to give his team a 21-19 lead.
Beal came off the bench behind Garrett Temple for the third consecutive game since returning from a sprained right wrist, with Wittman not looking to disrupt a rotation that has been working in recent weeks. The rookie scored eight points in the second period, including a long jumper that gave the Wizards a 29-27 lead.
Reserve Chris Singleton later stole the ball from Will Bynum and fed Beal for a layup. Singleton also had an impressive block on Monroe and Wall finished with a driving layup on the other end to put the Wizards ahead by three points. The Wizards couldn’t pull away, and needed Okafor to make a hook shot with 2.7 seconds remaining to give them a 45-44 lead at halftime. Okafor led the Wizards with 12 points at the break, while Monroe already had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Monroe finished with 16 points and 18 rebounds.
